40 years of Risky Business.
I find it difficult to believe that Risky Business was released 40 years ago…August 5, 1983. Wow.
I was 16 years old when the movie was released and thought I was all grown up! It’s funny to think about now, but at 16, I truly thought I knew a lot about the world. Oh, what life experience will teach us! I’m 56 now and know, without a doubt, that I know very little about the world, and at 16, I knew far less.
When the movie was released, I wasn’t old enough to get in. In most states back then, to see an R-rated movie, you had to be 17. In Alabama, though, you had to be 18…not that it mattered; I was 16 and looked 13. I had to wait until it was being shown at the cheap, second-run movie theatre…or what we called “the 99 cent movie,” because that was the price of admission. At “the 99 cent movie,” they didn’t check IDs for people wanting to see an R movie. I had to wait to see Purple Rain there too, but that’s a story for another day.
There is something about Risky Business that makes me feel nostalgic more than a lot of other movies of the time. Maybe it’s seeing a very young Tom Cruise dancing in his scivvies? Maybe it’s the “risky” plot? Maybe it’s the sheer fun of watching this soon-to-be Ivy Leaguer going through what he’s going through? Maybe it’s just remembering how much we talked about it with our friends in the 1980s?
I don’t even care much one way or the other about Tom Cruise these days, but I did in 1983! I had seen him in Taps and The Outsiders and thought he was easy on the eyes. He was also in a cheesy movie I watched over and over on HBO called Losin’ It. I’m sure it is a terrible movie, simply because the plot is terrible, but it also stars Shelly Long. I might rewatch it, if I can stomach it. If you remember the Porky’s movies of the 80s, Losin’ It has a similar flavor. Cruise also had a major role in the Pennsylvania high school football movie, All the Right Moves, and a very minor role in Endless Love with Brooke Shields. I think his character is named Billy, and he’s in one scene in the park…wearing cut-off jean shorts, or what we refer to now as “jorts.”
When Risky Business was released, Cruise became loved by many. He was on the covers of magazines. He was on talk shows…like when he was interviewed by Rona Barrett. You can see a very unaffected Cruise in the clip here. His love life was interesting to all of us. After some of his later movies and divorce from Nicole Kidman, I thought he was a little odd. After the divorce from Katie Holmes, well, let’s just say I’m #TeamKatie, but Cruise doesn’t care. He’s laughing all the way to the bank after the release of the Top Gun sequel last year.
I plan to watch Risky Business with my daughter this weekend. I feel like it’s a great glimpse into the 80s. She’ll laugh at the clothes and hairstyles, I’m sure (I will too!), but she will get a feel for the 80s. She’ll just have to sacrifice two hours to watch it with me. I haven’t seen it in years…years! However, I remember the effect it had on pop culture. The Ray-bans! The dance scene! The train scene! And the egg! Omg…the egg. I also remember how it launched Tom Cruise into stardom!
If you haven’t seen Risky Business in years but would like to, you can rent it or purchase it on Amazon here. And while you’re there, you should just go ahead and purchase the Ray-ban Wayfarers! See them here.